From growing up in a small town in Scotland, moving to the big city of Glasgow, and venturing in 2003 to establish a home across the world in Canada, Alex Clark shares the details of discovering what motivates him and finding ways to make a difference as president of Athabasca University.
What brought you to this community, and what keeps you here?
What brought me to Athabasca, ultimately was Athabasca University. I came to Athabasca University really with the sense of wanting to make a difference, and this university makes a difference in so many different ways…
I've been fortunate enough to have the role as Dean of Health Disciplines, and then also as president. You can see in very real and tangible ways, the way the university makes a difference to health care. It has the biggest nurse practitioner program in Canada, bigger than all the others combined…
In terms of being president, living in Athabasca is key to that role and key to the place of the university.
What’s your most memorable experience here in Athabasca?
Well there’s a few memorable experiences from the installation (ceremony) to the dunk tank on Canada Day, but probably the most memorable experience for me is the convocation…
We're mostly — obviously — an online university, so you hear about the students, but you don't get to see them in the same way that universities would often see the students. But to be the place to bring together the graduates and their guests, to feel the excitement, to share in the celebration, sharing the pride, was really, really meaningful…
Convocation really brought together not just the graduates and their guests but it also brought our team members, staff and the community together.
What’s one thing here that everyone should try?
There are lots of good things here, but amongst them all, I’d say the trails. You can have all that the town has to offer here, but you just have to walk a few yards, and it's like you're in a different world. The trails are so beautiful.
There's lots of research as well that suggests it's really good for us all — no matter what age we are — to interact with nature. It's really good for your mental health, it's really good for your soul…
They’re also diverse trails. There's some that are steeper and there's some that are more accessible. So I also think, for all different people, for all different stages in life, the rich trails around here give that opportunity to really interact with nature in a way that you don't really get in many places.
What’s one thing that you would change about Athabasca? What’s one thing you hope never changes?
The one thing I miss from Scotland is a local soccer team, like a professional team. So if I could wave a magic wand, I would want a professional soccer team in Athabasca that would play in the Canadian leagues, and be the only rural team in the Canadian leagues.
Having lived in different parts of the world — I lived in cities, growing up in a rural community as well — I think what I love about here is the spirit of the community, the entrepreneurship, the innovation, the working together, the looking out for each other. That is really precious in the world today…
I think the community spirit here, which is across generations, is super inspiring, and we shouldn't take it for granted. We have to keep nurturing it, and keep supporting each other.
Do you consider yourself an Athabascan first, Albertan first, or Canadian first?
I grew up in Scotland — such an important part of my heritage. I think the ability to hold multiple identities as one, as well as being a European too, is something I really embrace.
I'm a Canadian citizen as well, and yet have lived only ever in Alberta since I came to Canada.
And obviously, living and working in Athabasca now, seeing the community spirit, seeing all the community has to offer, you become proud of that identity, too.
There’s no order. You hold it all at once. It’s about the complex identities I think we do have as human beings these days, and that they can all coexist.
